The last edition of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner was published on Nov. 2, 1989, with the headline: "So long, Los Angeles. " But 23 years later, one employee has not yet said goodbye. Chuck Lutz hasn't even left the building. "They never told me not to come back to work, so I just kept coming back to work," said Lutz, who was exaggerating a little. When a colleague declined an offer to supervise the shutdown of the newspaper plant, Lutz - who joined the Her-Ex in 1973 as a truck driver - gladly stepped into the job. One task led to another, and the Hearst Corp., which published the newspaper and still owns the building, kept the reliable Lutz around to keep an eye on things and open the door for film crews that use the property.

Newsstand owner Robert Kelly is well aware that he's not in the most profitable of businesses these days. But, at 58, he says it's too late to get out of the print business. Plus, he enjoys having a front-row seat to the comings and goings in Los Feliz. Kelly has become a fixture at the corner of Vermont and Melbourne avenues, where he has operated his newsstand for 11 years, greeting neighbors and regulars by name and instinctively reaching for their favorite magazine or newspaper when they approach.

Prince Harry has flown home from the U.S. just in time to see that picture of himself flying off newsstands in the U.K.: The Sun broke ranks with the rest of Britain's tabloid media and finally published those naked photos of the royal that were taken during his recent Las Vegas vacation. "Heir it is!," the headline screams, following with a bit of snark: "Pic of naked Harry you've already seen on the Internet. (Click the link that follows to see the cover and the accompanying story, but beware, in case the headline is too subtle: The cover proudly displays that compromising photo of Harry.)

Before war hit El Salvador, Jose Soriano had a tiny hardware shop at the central plaza in San Salvador, and Cecilia Cruz had a small clothing stand nearby. Years later, the two were hardly surprised when they met again in downtown Los Angeles, where each operates a small newsstand on Broadway. "It wasn't strange to either of us," Soriano, 73, said. "This is our life. If you can't find a job in Los Angeles, you do in Los Angeles what you did in El Salvador: You sell."

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation's recent painting of a curb near a long-established newsstand has owners Joe Gianfrancesco and Chris Fernandes seeing red. According to Fernandes, who co-owns the Sherman Oaks Newsstand at the southwest corner of Ventura and Van Nuys boulevards, the transportation department two months ago began to lengthen the red no-parking zone on the west side of Van Nuys, south of Ventura Boulevard.

January 9, 1992 | ALEENE MacMINN, Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press

Ropin' the Top Spot: Garth Brooks' "Ropin' the Wind" sold more than 260,000 copies last week and will recapture the No. 1 spot on the nation's pop album chart Saturday when Billboard magazine hits the newsstands. Brooks' album sold about 18,000 more than Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" and 26,000 more than Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit," which will rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Nirvana's "Nevermind," which sold about 169,000, slipped to No.4.

When troubled, even anguished, some people call their shrinks, some go to Lourdes. A lot of us head to the closest newsstand. Adam Rodman, for example, who lives in Hollywood, was in the Valley recently, at the newsstand at the southwest corner of Van Nuys and Victory boulevards. He had just come from his nutritionist, with 8-year-old daughter Bridget in tow.

The Planning Commission tonight will review proposed ordinances that deal with adult videos and publications sold in newspaper racks. The task before commissioners is deciding what newspaper vending machine periodicals are obscene or harmful to minors--standards the city can use to restrict their display on newsstands, Assistant City Atty. Tim Cremin said.

For Adolph Botello, Thursday's newspaper run should have been just another trip to the coin box: Drop in a quarter, grab the paper, go back to work. Instead, it became a protracted hunt for the city's latest treasure--the last edition of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. "I've been driving up and down the streets, trying to find a copy of the newspaper," said Botello, sliding the last four copies out of a coin box across the street from the newspaper's nearly deserted office building.

With the presidential primaries, the Occupy movement, continued unrest in the Middle East and the Kim Kardashian wedding disaster, it's not as if there was a shortage of news in the second half of 2011. But you wouldn't know it looking at newsstand sales for the nation's magazines. Single-copy sales of consumer magazines took a major hit in the second half of last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Publishers sold 28.9 million newsstand copies, 10% less than the number sold over the same period in 2010.

With the royal wedding, the Japan earthquake, the Occupy movement and the Arab spring, it's not like there was a shortage of news in 2011. But you wouldn't know it looking at newsstand sales for the nation's magazines. Though some brands, such as Food Network Magazine, ended up, single-copy sales of consumer magazines took a hit in the second half of last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations . Publishers sold 28.9 million newsstand copies - 9.96% less than the number sold over the same period in 2010.

Newsstand owner Robert Kelly is well aware that he's not in the most profitable of businesses these days. But, at 58, he says it's too late to get out of the print business. Plus, he enjoys having a front-row seat to the comings and goings in Los Feliz. Kelly has become a fixture at the corner of Vermont and Melbourne avenues, where he has operated his newsstand for 11 years, greeting neighbors and regulars by name and instinctively reaching for their favorite magazine or newspaper when they approach.

Almost six months after a mudflow caused by a winter storm destroyed World Newsstand in Laguna Beach, it is now open for business at its original site at 190 Ocean Ave. Owner Heidi Miller, who also owns Tight Assets, a sportswear store a block away, walked downtown Dec. 22 to discover that everything — including newspapers, magazines, racks and even the cash register — was ruined. The water had rushed in through the 20-foot wooden doors, covering the small area with 3 to 4 feet of mud. She estimated the damage at $15,000.

When Clifton Moore ran the Los Angeles airport system from 1968 to 1993, there wasn't much emphasis on dining and shopping for people waiting for their planes at LAX. About all they could get were the basics: a newspaper, a cup of coffee, cafeteria fare and a preflight libation. The mantra was "We are an airport, not a shopping mall," and people on the staff were proud that Los Angeles International Airport had the least concession space of any major airport in the United States. Not anymore.

Acting to curb the distribution of sexually explicit publications, the Tustin City Council has moved to confiscate 35 news racks on city property. The council decided unanimously Monday that the racks will be impounded if not removed by their owners within in three days after receiving a notice from the city. Most news racks in the city are on private property and thus will not be affected by the council's policy.

Merchants who sell adult magazines will be required to use "blinder racks" to cover sexually explicit reading material, according to a new ordinance that received preliminary approval from the City Council this week. Council members voted unanimously to require retail outlets such as convenience and grocery stores to invest in "blinders" that will cover the lower two-thirds of magazine covers considered "harmful to minors."

Ann Bryan Mariano, who was one of the first female combat correspondents covering the Vietnam War and who sued the Pentagon to keep her publication on military-base newsstands, died Feb. 25 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at Belmont Manor Nursing Home in Belmont, Mass. She was 76.

As the Internet continues to spin its worldwide Web, magazine stands still have staying power. Whether it's the feeling one gets from flipping through pages or the variety of topics for people of all ages, many are still attracted to the physical space. A spot where they can hold something in their hands and continue to browse with their human search engine. The only hard-drive issue might involve the transportation necessary to get there. For an audio slide show, go to latimes.com/newsstand